COLLIER COUNTY, FL – Thanks to a communication technology upgrade at the sheriff’s office, Collier County residents can soon find out where victims are in need of CPR almost as soon as someone calls 911.

The city plans to integrate a mobile app called Pulse Point into its computer-aided dispatch system as part of a technology upgrade.

“The app typically displays all emergency activity in the jurisdiction, but alerts CPR-trained citizen and off-duty professional to nearby cardiac arrest [where CPR and AEDs are needed],” said president of the Pulse Point Foundation Richard Price.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office says they are still working out pricing with the company; along with if the call taker or dispatcher will send the information to the app. Pulse Point is only activated for emergencies in public places. It could save lives.

“The leading cause of death in adults in the United States, there are about 1.2 million heart attacks each year,” said chief of Collier County Emergency Medical Services Walter Kopka,

Kopka says heart attacks lead to more deaths than car crashes. He claims having someone there to jumpstart CPR could be a huge help.

“If all they do is push on their chest until professional rescuers arrive they’ll be pushing oxygen up to the brain. And that’s exactly what we want done, prior to our arrival. Keeping the brain alive,” said Kopka.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office is working out the details to sync it up with its 911 system.

CLEVELAND — Donald Austin of Cleveland owes his life to strangers. Strangers who had a basic skill that was needed at a critical time. On July 29th, Austin took a friend to traffic court. While waiting on his friend, Austin collapsed from a massive heart attack.

Deputy Bailiff Stephen Gaines was just feet away when it happened and jumped into action.

“It surprised me that the training I had just snapped back into me with CPR,” Gaines says. The officer adds he had help from several colleagues including a Cleveland Police officer who assisted with the CPR, several other court officers and Sheriff’s Deputies. All who’ve had CPR training.

Meanwhile, Cleveland EMS and MetroHealth, where Austin was taken, say that the PulsePoint app was also activated. PulsePoint is a free app that you can download onto your phone and it will alert you if someone is having a heart attack nearby. It will also give you the closest AED location. No one knows who’s app was activated, but there was someone else willing to help Austin.

Austin can’t thank the officers enough.

“I have a second chance with my family and people that love me, I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart for acting as fast as they did because they saved my life,” he says.